SOL: Stanzas of Life

With the recent launch of Disney+, the force of a new streaming platform has been felt throughout the world. It has led to a heated debate between other streaming services. In physics, a force is any interaction that, when unopposed, will change the motion of an object. Forces are described as “a push” or “a pull”, equal to an object’s mass multiplied by its acceleration.

As Star Wars fans unite and celebrate the new release of Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, one of my roommates (current mechanical engineering Junior) suggested that he is a Jedi in-training. Learning from his master, he mentioned that his motivation within Partial Differential Equations (PDE) was due to his professor’s ability to see his understanding of the information presented in lecture. He was finding his inner force and passion for math. This PDE course altered his future career path as he looks to math for the next answer.

Disney looks to its new streaming service for its next answer. Disney has called it the future of the company, and after years of preparation, the platform has been released to the public. Disney+ is the entertainment giant’s streaming service for almost everything it creates, taking on Netflix, Apple TV Plus, and HBO Max rivals.

Despite a few bumps in the server (glitches and outages on the first day), the launch was a success in the number of subscriptions. Disney+ registered more than 10 million people in roughly two days. In contrast, HBO Now took nearly three years to reach about 5 million subscribers.

Disney+ is designed as the exclusive home to stream blockbusters from Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and Disney’s own studios. With Disney+ library reaching nearly 500 films and 7,500 episodes of television, CNET has an article highlighting Disney+ titles included in the streaming service. Disney+ alters the method of releasing shows as compared to Netflix. It won’t release episodes of its original series all at once. Instead, new episodes will come out weekly.

Further, Disney+ costs $7 a month in the US, or $70 for a full year. The monthly rate is half the price of HBO Now, and compared with Netflix’s cheapest tier at $9 a month, it is the lowest market price for a streaming service.

With the launch of Disney+, it raises questions like: Should streaming services replace cable TV? or How does cable TV plan to compete with these new services? As a consumer in the digital era, we have to be aware of the various media platforms offered. Neither am I promoting Disney+ nor against it and its competitor services (Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, Apple TV Plus, etc.), rather I am presenting the factual evidence to inform my fellow Stanza followers.

May you continue to find your inner force and passion for your work.